Someday
by life is short so am I
Summary: AU! The night Naruto stole the Scroll of Seals, the Hokage discovers the scroll missing just a little bit later, giving Naruto time to learn one more technique… Includes time travel, fem!Naru and KakaNaru.
1. Goodbye

**Story:** Someday

 **Author:** life is short so am I

 **Rating:** T

 **Genre:** Adventure, humor, family, and friendship

 **Chapter:** Goodbye

 **Warning:** Fem!Naruto

 **Pairings:** Kakashi/Naruto, Minato/Kushina, Obito/Rin

 **Author's Note:** I don't know what the heck I'm doing guys. I just… Tumblr. I've only been on it for a few weeks and it's ruining my life (I'm never going to get off it!). I feel kind of cautious posting this. I've started the next chapter, but it just doesn't feel quite right yet. Maybe it'll be better if I get a proper cover image for this...

 **Summary:** AU! The night Naruto stole the Scroll of Seals, the Hokage discovers the scroll missing just a little bit later, giving Naruto time to learn one more technique… Includes time travel, fem!Naru, smart!Naru and KakaNaru.

 **Disclaimer:** Naruto is not mine.

* * *

A small girl with long red hair in loose braids snickered to herself as she sat down next to a large, unrolled scroll. Her blue eyes glinted mischievously when she picked the scroll up, the whisker marks on her cheeks only highlighting the impish nature of her face.

"Let's see," Naruto hummed as she scanned the newly acquired Scroll of Sealing for another jutsu. Shadow Clone Jutsu may not have taken too long to learn, but she knew that Mizuki or other ninja should be on their way to capture and bring her and the scroll back to the Hokage.

Or try to kill her.

It really depended on who got here first.

Naruto knew that Mizuki was trying to trick her when he told her about the 'big secret'. It was glaringly obvious. She had debated actually going through with it for a while, but then she decided on doing it when she realized that there would be no punishment for her.

As much as she loved Hokage-jiji, the man seemed to be blind to all of her non-broadcasted flaws. It would be quite easy to fool him into believing her innocence on this matter. She was careful to always show him and the rest of the village that while she may have been mischievous, it was always playful instead of being harmful like she sometimes wished it could be. He would never consider that she would actually steal the Scroll of Sealing for her own purposes.

Naruto had been in the clearing where Mizuki told her to wait for a little less than an hour. It shouldn't have taken this long for Jiji and the ANBU to figure out that she had stolen the Scroll of Sealing and Mizuki to get over here.

Still, she had never been one to waste time.

"Aha! Found one!" Naruto announced quietly after she had filtered out all of the techniques that would take too long or would be downright impossible for her to learn at her current level. "Time travel… sounds difficult. Eh, what the hell, if I can't learn it, I can't learn it."

 _Simplified Version of the Original Time Travel Seal_

 _Whereas the original seal was lost with the last of the Uzumaki Clan, Uzumaki Mito contributed the simplified version to the Scroll of Sealing when she married the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama._

 _The Original Time Travel Seal could send the user as far back as one million years if enough chakra was provided. However, this is incredibly dangerous as each decade would completely drain a ninja with B-Class level chakra reserves of all of their chakra, killing them or leaving them otherwise incapacitated._

 _The Simplified Time Travel Seal can only send the user back to a maximum of thirty years and a minimum of five years. The user cannot specify how many years they can go back in the seal, but instead the years increase with the amount of chakra used._

 _In the Original Time Travel Seal, the user's soul would have replaced their younger selves had the user traveled to a time where they were alive, but the Simplified Time Travel Seal allows the user and their younger variant's soul to remain separate, and therefore they will not have to share a body. This seal is unable to be used by the same person twice._

 _The Simplified Time Travel Seal has never been used before, so it is unknown whether it has possible consequences. The use of this seal is forbidden with the exception of a severe emergency._

The description went on to give a detailed explanation on how to draw the seal properly and the ramifications of activating the seal if drawn incorrectly (an instant, painful death, as per usual) and a drawing of the seal. The language wasn't as complicated as many of the other scrolls Naruto had read about fūinjutsu. Naruto figured it was to make sure any idiot could understand and utilize it in case of a major emergency.

Naruto stared at it for a good few minutes, trying to comprehend that she had honestly stumbled upon a genuine method for time travel, a thing that she had only previously heard was possible in civilian fiction novels.

When she finally managed to wrap her mind around the seal, Naruto took out a notebook that she always carried around with her and quickly jotted down the all the information of the seal in as much detail as she could. She then drew the seal underneath her notes. Finished with that, Naruto rolled the scroll back up and placed her notes in a secret Storage Seal in one of her jumpsuits pockets.

Deciding to make it look like she had been trying to perfect the Shadow Clone Jutsu this whole time to the person that happened to find her first so that they didn't realize that she had learnt more than one thing (Naruto found that it was always good to have more than one ace up her sleeve), Naruto undid one loose braid, messing the other up. She smudged some dirt across her face and after messing with her jumpsuit for a little bit, she decided on tying her jacket around her hips.

It would do no good to have anybody realize that she wasn't quite the idiot she had fooled them all into believing she was.

Naruto sat back down on the ground beside the scroll. Frowning deeply, she began to concentrate on the chakra signatures around her. Naruto was rather new at sensing chakra, so she couldn't sense any ninja that were skilled at hiding their signatures, but she suspected that high ranking nin wouldn't be looking for her. She wasn't even a genin yet, after all. Though that was a rather stupid mistake.

Most of the rookie ANBU failed to find her after she did played her little pranks, and she wasn't even trying that hard to hide then. Then again, she was trying even less than usual now. It's not like she didn't want Mizuki to find her. That would ruin the plan.

She learned how to sense Iruka's chakra though, and he had a pretty good grasp on how to hide his chakra. He mostly thought that she was sleeping in class (which, to be fair, she sometimes did), but what she had really been doing for the past year was practicing her chakra sensing abilities.

Mizuki was easy to sense. His chakra was fluctuating with his emotions, broadcasting his presence to any who had even an ounce of skill in sensing chakra.

Naruto scoffed. She had no idea how that idiot had managed to make chunin. She had known from day one that the bastard had it out to get her.

She just wished that he hadn't been so successful in screwing up her taijutsu.

Turning her attention away from the obvious, she began searching for Iruka. He was a lot closer to her 'hiding spot' than Mizuki was and he was rapidly approaching, which wasn't that big of a surprise. What always did surprise her was that he wasn't a jonin. He had the skills, he had the experience, and he had enough chakra.

Some promotions just went to the wrong people.

Honestly, the white haired chunin was so stupid she half expected him to spill the beans on her being the Kyūbi jinchūriki in hopes of her handing over the scroll on her own free will when it became clear that she wouldn't just give it to him.

* * *

Naruto painstakingly drew out the seal she had learned all those years ago in her own blood. Her blood was easily accessible because she was laying in a rapidly growing large puddle of it. Her hand shook with the strain of being lifted and black dots danced at the edges of her vision.

Fortunately she know that this wouldn't affect the quality of the seal in any way. The intricate and complicated lines of the seal were still flawless. She had practiced drawing the time travel seall so often that she knew how to make it with her eyes closed.

Even still, she was cautious. One small mistake could ruin the entire seal, and then she would be dead.

Tears were gathering in her blue eyes, turning red as the fell down when they came into contact with the blood that stained most of her body. Naruto hadn't allowed herself to cry until now.

Stupid Kaguya for being such bitch. What did she even want anyways? To take chakra from humans? Revenge? Did Kaguya even know, or was she just running on bitch power?

Stupid Madara for starting this whole mess. The bastard. Honestly, there were easier ways to go about getting peace. What an idiot.

Stupid Obito, even if he tried (and failed) to redeem himself by sealing the Ten-Tails.

Stupid Ten-Tails for being goddamn fucking indestructible. For not even dying after their last 'what the hell, we're all going to die anyways, let's give it all we've got' attack. It fucking eradicated everyone.

Seriously, Naruto tried, but she couldn't sense any chakra signatures.

Naruto was going to die soon, right there on the final battle ground, surrounded by the corpses of her friends and comrades.

Her precious people.

She missed them all. Her friends, the people that finally accepted her after a life full of loneliness. They had died days before she did, killed by the poisonous nature of the Ten-Tails chakra or by the Ten-Tails itself. Naruto herself had only survived because of the protection of being the host of the Nine-Tails offered her. Though it had seriously weakened Kurama to make sure that she continued surviving while breathing in air saturated with the Ten-Tails power.

The wounds that the Ten-Tails had inflicted on her were life threatening and she couldn't feel usual rush of chakra underneath her skin mending her wounds. Kurama, Naruto deduced, was even more exhausted than she was.

Finished drawing out the seal, Naruto closed her eyes. The tension completely drained out of her, leaving her even more weak than she had felt before.

Naruto brought her trembling hands together to clap, then lowered them to the the seal, activating it with a feeble, "Fūin."

Naruto's vision swam and the edges gradually started fading out. A small smile played on the edge of her lips. She could feel the chakra starting to drain out of her, leaving her feeling empty and taking her only remaining strength with it.

Maybe she could find a better place, a place where she wouldn't have to worry about watching her back all the time. Where she wouldn't have to worry about friends dying to crazy psycho-maniacs who believed they had the power of the gods.

Maybe she would die.

Maybe nobody would find her in time.

Dying sounded peaceful.

She wouldn't need any ambitions, to train to keep her skills sharp enough to survive.

No accusing, hateful glares when she had to tell families what happened to their loved ones.

Nobody trying to kill her because they were idiots and thought that she was a demon.

No more of the anxious feeling of not being able to do anything while people were out dying.

No more watching helplessly as her precious people died in her arms.

Only peace, tranquility.

She could finally, truly be free. No more simply surviving. She could finally live.

If she was really lucky, she might be able to see all of her precious people. Konoha Twelve. Sai, Gaara, Killer Bee. Gai, Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, Iruka, Yamato, Anko. Jiji, Tsunade, Ero-Sennin. Konohamaru, Ayame, Teuchi. Haku, Zabuza, Inari, Tazuna, Tsunami. The other eight Tailed Beasts. Her parents. The ninja of Konoha, the villagers of Konoha. The ninja from Suna, form Mizu, from Kumo, from Iwa.

Yes, dying sounded nice. Hopefully nobody found her and she died right in whatever time she landed in and this whole seal was for nothing.

Naruto's small, painful smile turned into a daring grin. Dredging up the last bit of her will, she whispered out a small, "Goodbye."


	2. Hello

**Story:** Someday

 **Author:** life is short so am I

 **Rating:** T

 **Genre:** Adventure, humor, family, and friendship

 **Chapter:** Hello

 **Warning:** Fem!Naruto

 **Pairings:** Kakashi/Naruto, Minato/Kushina, Obito/Rin

 **Author's Note:** Naruto was sent back into the past when she was twenty-two. And Naruto's fever is so high because her body had just shrunk from twenty-two years old to five. I figure she'd get quite sick after that, so that's the only medical explanation you'll get from me. Also I go into so much analization for her new name because my English class has infected my brain and I have to see an 'insightful comment' for everything decision I make (p.s. you just _know_ that she and Gai are going to get along well).

 **Summary:** AU! The night Naruto stole the Scroll of Seals, the Hokage discovers the scroll missing just a little bit later, giving Naruto time to learn one more technique… Includes time travel, fem!Naru, smart!Naru and KakaNaru.

 **Disclaimer:** Naruto is not mine.

* * *

"-and she looks like a Uzumaki… Kushina would murder me… condition… Tsunade… interrogate her _in_ Konoha…"

"Jiraiya, you fool… brink of war!... bring a girl into Konoha… no matter how young she or how much she looks like…"

"Tsunade, I don't think you understand. She like, _four_ or something… found her near our border with the Land of Rivers… clothes and all covered in blood, the girl looked like she was about to die… you do realize how heartless you're being right?! Just look at that cute little face! Those whisker marks too!"

"Just because the brat's fucking adorable doesn't mean she's trustworthy!"

She gave a low moan of pain. The two people that were talking fell silent and one rushed to kneel beside her. A calloused hand gently placed itself on her forehead.

"Shit, she's burning up!" A woman's voice hissed, snatching her hand away as though she had been burned. Her voice sounded vaguely familiar, but she didn't know where from. The woman barked, "Jiraiya, get me a wet cloth. Well? What are you waiting for?"

"Yes Tsunade! You're the boss!" A man's voice yelped. The man sounded familiar too.

She whimpered. What happened? What could have possibly happened to her to make her feel this much pain?

"Hang in there, kiddo," the woman murmured soothingly. "You're going to be just fine. You're safe with us. We won't let you get hurt again."

She opened her eyes, but all she could see was a blurred shape of a woman leaning over her. She was lying on grass, with a tree canopy shielding the sky from view. Gradually, the woman became clearer, showing off her pale blonde hair and a worried look on her beautiful face. The woman held her hands a few inches above of her torso. She watched in slight shock as they started glowing green. The woman's frown deepened, "I already treated your injuries and there's no internal cause so why…"

"I got the cloth!" the man yelled as he ran up to them. The woman stood up from her side and rushed over to the man. "Great. Now I want you to get me a bucket of cold water. Her temperature should not be this high."

The woman - through her pain, she thought she heard the man calling the woman Tsunade and the woman calling the man Jiraiya - knelt beside her and placed the cloth on her forehead. She jumped when the cloth hit landed on her head, becauses suddenly it was so cold. Goosebumps raised on her arms and legs and she started shivering. Thankfully, the cold on her forehead faded, but she didn't stop shivering.

"Shit," Tsunade muttered. "She has the chills."

She could only let out a strangled groan of disappointment when the man - Jiraiya - came running up with a large bucket in his hands. As he set it down beside the woman, water sloshed over the rim of the bucket. The water splashed onto her, making her let out a surprised gasp and curl away from the cold.

"Jiraiya," Tsunade growled. "You clumsy ass pervert!"

That must of been around the time that she fell asleep, because she didn't remember anything else after that.

The next time she woke up, she was feeling considerably better. Sunlight filtered through the tree canopy, hurting her eyes for a moment, but after a few minutes she got used to it.

Supporting her weight on her elbows, she scanned the area. She was in a clearing surrounded by lush greenery. Judging from the plant life, it was probably spring. Jiraiya and Tsunade were nowhere to be seen, but they had left their equipment, so she came to the conclusion that they must be coming back soon.

Sighing, she lowered herself back down and rested her head on the makeshift pillow that either Jiraiya or Tsunade provided her.

Her body felt strange. Different somehow, though she wasn't quite sure in what way. She might have been feeling much better, but by no means did she feel good. Sitting up made her head spin and her stomach twist.

"Finally awake I see. You're suffering from some pretty severe chakra exhaustion. In fact, I'm surprised that you're even up." Jiraiya's calm voice cut into the quiet of the clearing.

She jumped and turned around, surprised. She hadn't heard him approaching at all. He walked up and sat beside her on the blanket that she had been laid down on.

Almost as if reading her mind, Jiraiya chuckled, offering, "Tsunade, the blonde woman, remember her?" At her nod, he smiled and continued, "She and I left to scout out the area a little bit. We'd thought you'd sleep for a bit longer, but here you are, awake and shit."

She blinked at him, a little uncertain on what to say to the familiar looking man. Furrowing her eyebrows, she settled on asking, "Earlier you said something about finding me? And looking like a Uzumaki?"

It was Jiraiya's turn to look surprised. "You actually remember that? No, scratch that, you heard that? I was pretty sure that you were still unconscious then." She shrugged uncomfortably. He sighed, "Well, you do look a lot like a Uzumaki. Red hair, big eyes, chubby cheeks. You certainly look a lot like Kushina. Though they generally do have darker eyes. Maybe you're half," Jiraiya mused.

"The name sounds familiar," she crinkled her nose, trying to remember where she had heard it before, but nothing came to mind. In fact, she didn't remember anything. Pausing, she turned to Jiraiya, asking perhaps a touch too desperately, "Where did you find me again?"

Looking a little confused, Jiraiya answered, "Near our borders with the Land of Rivers. Hey kid, you okay? You're looking a little pale."

"Where, exactly is the Land of Rivers? And what boarder are you talking about? Where are we?" she demanded, her questioning getting more distressed as no memories resurfaced.

"We're in the Land of Fire," Jiraiya said gently, perhaps understanding that she was having trouble with her memories. "Do you know where that is?"

She searched through her head, quickly shaking her head when she found that she didn't. "It sounds familiar," she said. Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to allow them to spill over. She may not know her name, who she was, what happened to her and where she came from, but that didn't mean that she was allowed to go into self-pity mode.

Seeing her eyes grow watery, Jiraiya began to panic. "Shit," he muttered, "Why couldn't Tsunade be the one to talk to her, huh? Hey," he said louder, "Can you tell me anything that you do remember? Even the smallest of things might help us figure out who you are. Landmarks, people, even names. Anything really."

She gave a shaky sigh and closed her eyes. Five minutes later, her eyes shot open with a gasp. She quickly began hyperventilating. She stared at Jiraiya, expression vacant but her words were horrified. "Blood," she whispered. "Lots of blood. They're all dead. Killed. I couldn't do anything. Helpless. Pathetic."

Too horrified to even cry, she sat frozen in her spot. Jiraiya pressed his lips together and forced himself to speak lightly, "While this is extremely unfortunate and and makes me want to cry because you currently seem to be unable to, the hidden villages are on the brink of war, so stories like these aren't exactly uncommon."

"Jiraiya you idiot!" Tsunade's hissed as she emerged from her hiding spot behind a tree. "She's clearly having a panic attack! She's not going to respond to things like that now! Her mind is probably locking away her memories from her because they are too traumatic for her to bear! This is not something to take lightly!"

Jiraiya threw his hands up. "Fine then!" he huffed, "You do it! I don't know what you could have had to gain from hiding while I talked to her anyways! She's like, four or something and obviously not a trained ninja! I told you earlier that we could save the interrogation for Konoha! Kushina is going to kill us because we mentally scarred one of the last remaining members of her family!"

Ignoring him, Tsunade crouched in front of her, a comfortably distance away. She spoke softly and calmly, "Hello, I'm Tsunade. I healed you earlier. I know that whatever you remember is scary, but that's not happening right now. You're not in any danger. Now, I want you to count to ten. I'll go first, okay?". A few minutes later her breathing began to calm down and her eyes slowly rose to meet Tsunade's. Tsunade smiled encouragingly, "Don't you worry, ok? You're safe with us."

Swallowing roughly, she nodded hesitantly. "Thank you," she whispered.

Tsunade smiled at her soothingly, "It's alright brat. Now, I can tell you something about yourself. Using a medical scan, I can find out your biological age. I did this earlier, and I found out that you're five years old. However, the scan can't tell me when your birthday is, so if you have any idea, any at all, tell me now."

Birthday? She couldn't even remember her own _name_ , much less her birthday.

Seeing the uncertain look on her face, Jiraiya butted in, "Why don't we leave that for later. Can you remember your name?"

She hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.

"That's alright," Jiraiya comforted her, "I didn't expect you to. How about we help you decide on one, alright?"

She bit her lip for a moment, then shook her head. "No. You found me," she said pointing to Jiraiya. "And you healed me," she said pointing to Tsunade. "Without you I would be dead. I want you to choose my name."

Jiraiya and Tsunade shared a shocked look, before Tsunade directed a warm and slightly sad smile to her. "Oh sweetie. You break my heart."

Sensing the declining mood, Jiraiya jumped up and dramatically pointed his finger into the air. "I suggest-"

"No," Tsunade casually cut him off without even looking at him. "We're not naming her any perverted and/or extremely stupid thing that you've come up with."

Jiraiya pouted with great exaggeration. He reluctantly sat back down. His theatrics managed to tempt a smile out of the small girl. "Fine," he mumbled sulkily, keeping up the charade. "You come up with something then!"

Tsunade glanced around the clearing idly. "How about we name you Sakura? Cherry blossoms always bloom in spring and spring symbolizes new beginnings."

She paled and shook her head. It's no that she didn't like cherry blossoms, but the name… it felt like she was taking something that wasn't hers if she took on that name. It had history, and that history wasn't hers.

"No?" Tsunade asked, surprised by her vehemence. "I thought it was a good idea."

"It's not that," she hurried to explain. "I like the spring idea it's just… I think I might have known somebody named Sakura before."

Tsunade and Jiraiya nodded in understanding. After a moment, Jiraiya mused, "Well, you like the spring idea, yes? It may not be exactly the same, but I found you under a plum blossom. How do you like the name Ume?"

"Plum blossoms bloom in the winter and early spring," Tsunade informed them. "If you really want to go into the symbolism like for Sakura, I guess you could say that winter symbolizes suffering, death and therefore perseverance and survival. Since the plum blossom also symbolizes spring, this can be seen as you pushing past the harsh winter and becoming new and thriving in the spring."

Jiraiya stared at Tsunade blankly for a moment. "Sure we can go with that," he mumbled. "Or we could go with the traditional meaning of the name as cherry blossom. But you know, if you want to analyze it to death."

Tsunade shot him a glare, snapping, "And you're supposed to be an author. But then again, you are a useless pervert. I doubt the porn you write can even be considered a book."

She giggled. Both of the adults stopped their glare-off to turn to look at the girl, as it was the first time they had heard her laugh.

"I like it," the newly dubbed Ume said thoughtfully once she stopped giggling. "I think the symbolism fits my situation well and my new goal for the future is goal reach spring."

"Ume Uzumaki it is," Jiraiya declared, spreading his arms wide in a grand gesture. Tsunade bit back a pleased smile, glad that Ume like her analization.

Ume fell back asleep four minutes later, completely exhausted.

* * *

"MINATO!" Kushina yelled, running so fast that she was but a red blur. Minato braced himself for the glomp but still got bowled over by his girlfriend.

Fortunately he was alone on the training grounds or else Fugaku, Hiashi and Hizashi would have heard about it and the teasing would have been endless. Or even worse; his three students, Kakashi, Obito and Rin.

Before he could get a word in, Kushina started rambling. "Minato, you know how I've been telling you about how something felt off today and I wasn't sick or anything and no it just wasn't me and I didn't drink the bad milk again!? Right, you remember that, don't you? I mean, of course you remember that because your memory is like, fucking perfect or something, but I need you to say something so I don't feel like I'm talking to a brick wall. You know, I tried that once on a mission where I was supposed to look like a crazy and it was nowhere near as fun as it was made out to be-"

Rolling his eyes, Minato decided that allowing Kushina to sit on his back and squash his face into the ground was probably the best plan of action for now. "Yes, I remember" he said, his voice muffled.

This was all the encouragement that Kushina needed, as she shot off again, thankfully back on topic, "Well, as I've been telling you, I've been having stomach aches all day and they won't go away and their painful and annoying, but I know that I'm not on my period because that ended last week and I don't really get this many cramps for that and I know that I didn't drink the bad milk because I _checked_ this time, I really did, and I know that it's not just a stomach ache because I don't really feel like throwing up and staying at home all day moaning about how awful I feel and you know that it's usually all or nothing with that kind of stuff for me and I'm definitely not pregnant and-"

"Kushina," Minato sighed, a little worried but trying not to show it. "I'm sure if it were anything serious the Fox will heal it. You dying would inconvenience him, wouldn't it? He would have to regenerate and that would take a couple years. So he wouldn't let you get extremely sick and if you were, I'm sure he and your frankly terrifying Uzumaki healing ability would be able to make it go away."

"That's what I've been trying to _tell_ you!" Kushina yelled, leaping off his back. Her voice managed to convey the disbelief she felt that he hadn't gotten it yet, despite her not giving him any relevant information he could have worked with. Minato scrambled off the ground, only to wish he hadn't as Kushina revealed the source of her oh so mysterious stomach ache. "The Fox is _gone_!"


	3. Family

**Story:** Someday

 **Author:** life is short so am I

 **Rating:** T

 **Genre:** Adventure, humor, family, and friendship

 **Chapter:** Family

 **Warning:** Fem!Naruto

 **Pairings:** Kakashi/Naruto, Minato/Kushina, Obito/Rin

 **Author's Note:** And I introduce you to (drumroll please) chapter 3! Sorry for not updating sooner. School kills but procrastination is key to sanity. As I am writing this, I am putting off a big project that is due tomorrow and I have yet to start, along with studying for a test and a lot of homework.

 **Summary:** AU! The night Naruto stole the Scroll of Seals, the Hokage discovers the scroll missing just a little bit later, giving Naruto time to learn one more technique… Includes time travel, fem!Naru, smart!Naru and KakaNaru.

 **Disclaimer:** Naruto is not mine.

* * *

It was another few days until Ume was ready to travel. During that time, Jiraiya and Tsunade taught her about ninja and the hidden villages, though nothing more than your average genin-wannabe would know. She picked it up surprisingly quickly and Jiraiya wanted to teach her more, but Tsunade made them wait until they got to Konoha.

In the meantime, Ume had designated them each nicknames. After Tsunade had told her all about the books that Jiraiya wrote after the two got into a fight, Ume had given him the nickname Ero-sennin, to Tsunade's amusement and Jiraiya's horror. Things turned around though when Tsunade got stuck with the nickname 'baa-chan'.

Jiraiya and Tsunade were surprised to find that Ume was quite a cheerful girl, despite her circumstances. At times, she seemed to be much wiser than her five years should allow, but others she was putting mud in Jiraiya's sleeping back and laughing at the face he made when he got in.

As the trip wore on, Ume's excitement to get to Konoha faded into nervousness. Jiraiya had told her that they were going to Konoha to see a probable relative of hers named Kushina.

What if Kushina really wasn't related to her? What if she didn't like her? What if she was angry at her for not finding her before now? What if she didn't want to find any of her family? Brushing the depressing thoughts out of her mind, Ume made a running leap and landed perfectly on Jiraiya's back and grabbing his shoulders.

"Giddy up," Ume commanded.

Jiraiya gave a bad imitation of a horse neigh and started running ahead of Tsunade.

The woman just rolled her eyes and plucked Ume off of his back as he ran by. "Konoha's just past that hill. No horseback riding into our village," she commanded.

Ume pouted and settled herself more comfortably into Tsunade's arms. She ignored the growing nauciousness and her rapidly beating heart in favor of craning her neck to see over the hill. She waited impatiently for when they reached the top of the hill. Nothing had ever seemed further.

Within minutes, Konoha came into sight.

The village was small from their vantage point, but Ume had never seen anything so beautiful. She felt emotion that she couldn't quite place and had to bite her lip to keep from and Jiraiya relaxed, tension that Ume didn't even know they had disappearing.

"That's going to be your new home," Tsunade whispered.

 _Home._ The word echoed in her mind, beautiful and unfamiliar and out of reach. What had her last home been like? Why didn't she remember any of it? Who had her family been? Where had it been?

Had she ever even had a home?

Again, Ume brushed her thoughts out of her mind. She couldn't think of that or else she'd drive herself mad. Tsunade said that she might gain her memories back later.

From what little she could remember, Ume wasn't sure she even wanted them back. She desperately wanted to know what happened to make her lose her memories, but a part of her knew that she was better off not knowing.

Two hours later, Ume found herself sitting outside the Hokage's office alone. She could hear no sounds coming from within the office, but that didn't mean anything. Jiraiya had given her some cool trivia on their way through Konoha, and the fact that the Hokage's office was sound proofed was among them.

Ume pouted and began to kick her legs back and forth. Jiraiya and Tsunade had been in the office there for a while… and the chair wasn't really comfortable at all. The chair was so big in comparison to Ume's height that Tsunade had to lift her so that she could sit in it. Ume probably could have climbed up herself, but getting not having to was nice.

Ume looked down the halls and gave a nervous chuckle. Not only was the receptionist watching her like a hawk, but there was nobody else here. Wasn't the Hokage's office supposed to be busy or something? He did lead the ninja forces. Was it because of her? Were her circumstances really so strange that the Hokage didn't want her to meet anybody? Did he think that she was a spy or something?

Ume began to entertain herself with imagining why the Hokage Tower wasn't busy.

 _This isn't the real Hokage Tower. They have this set up so that if a spy wants to steal anything they go to the wrong place._

 _No ninjas after noon on weekends._

 _This is all a really big, weird dream._

 _They don't want crowds of people so that I can't slip away unseen and destroy everything._

Finally the door opened. Tsunade stood in the doorway, looking frustrated and worn out. Ume didn't blame her, being around boys all the time. Jiraiya had already proven to her that boys were icky.

Tsunade sighed, "You can come in now, Ume."

Ume grinned and jumped out of her chair. She didn't have to sit still any longer! When Ume saw what was on the inside of the Hokage's office, her pout came back. She had expected something more awesome, like a whole bunch of weapons and other cool ninja stuff.

Instead she got a familiar looking old dude sitting at a desk covered with paperwork.

Well, that wasn't just it. There were some dudes with cool masks sitting partially hidden in the corners of the room, but she had the feeling that they were only visible to her as a show of power.

So Ume skipped up to the old man and chirped, "Hiya Jiji. I'm Ume!"

The old man was visibly surprised, while Tsunade hid her laugh behind a cough and Jiraiya full out laughed. The cool dudes with the masks tensed at her disrespectful and overly familiar nature.

The Hokage smiled after shooting his two students a glare, "So I've been told. Ume, I'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's alright with you."

 _He doesn't believe me. He's not going to let me stay here. He's going to kick me out and whatever got my family is going to get me too._ Ume thought with dawning horror. Of all the awful things that she thought would happen, this was not it.

Jiraiya placed his hand on her shoulder, the first to realize what the look on her face meant. "It's ok Ume, he's just asking a few questions. It's mandatory for every new person who wants to live in Konoha. In fact, you're getting a special treatment because we brought you in! If it weren't for us, you'd have to fill out a _loooot_ of paperwork and get asked a whole bunch of questions by a different boring old man."

Ume giggled, feeling a lot better. He wasn't going to kick her out. She would meet Kushina, and they would be a happy family together.

"Ok!" Ume beamed. "Ask away Jiji!"

After countless 'I don't knows', and a Yamanaka's short trip into her memory-free mind, Ume was given citizenship to Konoha.

Kushina was called in not long after. Ume was ushered out of the room again so that Kushina could be told about her first before meeting her. Before she left though, she asked, "But I'm waiting in the hallway. Won't she see me?"

The old man simply rolled his eyes before answering with, "Everybody enters through the damned window. I don't even know why I have a door."

And so Ume waited in the dreaded chair, trying to calm herself down. She had been able ignore it up until now, but she was so close to somebody who had such great power over her. She had never even met Kushina before, yet she knew that if the other girl were to reject her then she would just fall apart.

Kushina was her only connection to her past. It may not be that big of a connection, but it was there.

Ume let out a deep breath. There was nothing to distract her now. No Jiraiya, no Tsunade. Just Ume and the empty hallway leading to the Hokage's office.

Ume closed her eyes and took deep breaths.

In…

Out…

In…

Out…

"Hey kid? You ok?" A man's voice called.

Ume's eyes snapped open, an embarrassed flush coming over her face. The man that had startled her turned out not to be a man but a teenager with bright blonde hair and blue eyes. He looked down at her with concern on his face.

Ume nodded. As it turned out, a lot of people in Konoha looked familiar, this person included. "I'm ok. Just a little nervous."

The blonde teenager chuckled as he sat on the chair beside her. "Me too. My girlfriend was just called in to see the Hokage. Something kind of big just happened to her, so we're all trying to figure out what's been going on. I'm hoping for some good news. What are you here for?"

Ume's heart skipped a beat. "Is your girlfriend's name Uzumaki Kushina?"

He gave her an odd look, bordering on suspicious. "Yes. How did you know that?"

Ume shrugged. "She was called here to see me."

The suspicion cleared from his eyes, replaced by realization and excitement. "You're a Uzumaki, aren't you? Oh, Kushina will be so happy!"

Ume beamed up at him. "Really! I'm super excited too! I can't wait to meet her!"

"What's your name kid? I'm Minato," Minato smiled and held his hand out.

Ume looked at it curiously before she took her own hands and moulded it into a fist. She then gave him props. "I'm Ume."

Minato laughed at her actions. "I think that you and Kushina will get along just fine, Ume."

Ume relaxed at his words, the last of her nervousness fleeing her. "Thank you," she whispered.

Minato smiled at her and placed his hand on her head. "You know, you look just like her when she was your age. I wonder how close your relation is."

"Doesn't matter," Ume said. "Family is family."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, before Ume quietly asked, "Minato? Are you and Kushina ninjas?"

Minato blinked at the question. "Well… yeah, we are. Why?"

Ume looked up at him with eyes burning in determination. "I'm going to become a ninja too so that I can defend my precious people!"

Minato smiled and leaned back in his seat. "That's the best reason I've ever heard for becoming a ninja. Who are the precious people you want to defend?"

"You and Granny and Ero-sennin and Kushina!" Ume declared.

Minato's jaw dropped. "But we've only been talking for ten minutes! And you've never met Kushina before! And just two other people?"

"Kushina is family! And you're Kushina's family so you're my family! Ero-sennin and Granny are the people who found me. I would've died if they hadn't," Ume informed him.

Minato shook his head. "I pity whoever has a nickname like Ero-sennin."

"Yeah well brat, screw you too," Jiraiya said from the doorway.

Minato jumped, not having noticed him open the door. Ume covered her mouth to stop giggling.

"Jiraiya-sensei! … now the name makes sense," Minato said to himself.

Jiraiya pouted but got over it quickly. "Come on brat, Kushina's been debriefed. You can meet her now."

Ume got out of her seat but hesitated and looked up to Minato. He smiled reassuringly and gently pushed her towards the door. "Don't worry. Kushina will love you to bits."

Ume took a deep breath and walked through the door, unprepared for the giant hug that she was met with.

Ume stayed frozen for a moment, before she wrapped her small arms around the teen that was clinging to her for dear life. She could feel the joy Kushina felt, the peace, the absolute relief that she had finally found family. She felt those emotions too, and everything else as well. This was supposed to be a wonderful moment, but for some reason it was breaking her heart. _We lost our families, but we've finally found each other,_ was the general understanding between them.

"You and me," Kushina whispered. "We're going to stick together, ok?"

Ume could feel the top of her head growing wet, and she realized it was from Kushina's tears. After a second, she realized that she was crying too. "Yes," Ume whispered back. "We can be a family."

 _Family. Home._


End file.
